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| the beauty of yogurt, inside and out |
This is something of a "beauty" focused blog, which is kind of unusual for me but I love to share things that I stumble across or discover.
If you don't already know me, I'm apt to think so far outside of the box as to render myself rather eccentric, but I'm quite happy with that...because of that, I end up discovering lovely new things, like this.
Recently, I have found myself on a yogurt kick, which is somewhat odd for a generally anti-dairy person. I have no problems with lactose intolerance, that's never been a problem. I'm just one to see far beyond the bullshit fed to us all about how important and beneficial milk is, or that it's something necessary for a human to ingest. The only reason a cow produces milk it to turn a small, vulnerable newborn calf into a big, fat cow that's less appealing to predators. It's designed by nature to encourage rapid growth in a baby cow, period. The calcium in cow's milks is far too coarse for humans to really break down and access - we receive very little benefit from ingesting milk, but it's a billion dollar industry, the diayr trade, so we are conditioned from our first breath to believe it's necessary and healthy for us. It's not.
That said, I am a huge fan of the supplementation of probiotics, the beneficial bacteria so crucial to our health that flourishes in the digestive tract, where all of our absorption of nutrients happens. Yogurt, as a cultured product (like kefir) is loaded with beneficial bacteria. Now, if we all led lives of pristine health, drinking pure, clean water, eating TRULY healthy (I won't even get started on what that means) and releasing stress in positive ways, our bodies would never need supplementation of any nutrients. But we have designed our lives to br full of stressors; physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
Cultured veggies, which you can buy at Whole Foods and health food markets (making them at home is beyond stinky, folks) are a fabulous addition to any meal and do wonders for your all-important digestive tract. Yogurt, really good, pure yogurt that's NOT loaded with corn syrup and sugars, is a tasty and efficient delivery system for getting those good bacteria soldiers into your body to help support you. Digestion is one of the most important and most energy taxing processes the human body has to perform, so doing things to make that easier frees up energy for self healing. ;)
Now, all that taken into account, my consisten cravings lately for good yogurt have not gone unnoticed or unrewarded. I've added that as a typical lunch and found it's given me loads of energy and my body is loving it right now.
I'm also someone who has moved away from using chemical cleansers and beauty products as much as possible (without giving up my glam!) and part of that has included using 100% pure body art quality henna to color my naturally light blonde locks a vibrant red, and to care for my curls I have stopped using shampoo at all. I've been doing what is called a conditioner wash only, and that's exactly what it sounds like; I get in, thoroughly rinse the hair with my nice shower filtered water, then slather on good conditioner, massage the scalp, comb, rinse and go.
Recently I added something new to this process that seems to be nothing short of a hair miracle for me; I've started washing my hair with yogurt before the conditioner wash and every time it turns out to be exceptionally soft, clean, shiny and FULL of body and curl.
So I was already eating yogurt and using it on my hair, but this morning I tried something else that was lovely; I washed my face in the shower with yogurt as well. It dissolved makeup and any excess oil from overnight beautifully and when I rinsed it off, my skin was unbelievably soft. Still feels like a child's skin. I then took it the next step and just used it as an all over cleansing milk, as an experiment. And as I imagined, I felt clean as could be and my skin is incredibly soft all over.
I'm also a BIG fan of natural facials, meaning one ingredient or only homemade concoctions. I have found that slathering on raw, unfiltered honey makes for the best damn face mask I've ever experienced. Rinses off easily and the enzymes and nutrients really do amazing things for your skin. I especially like to leave it on around the eyes. Yes, sometimes it gets in my eyes and might sting a tiny bit but not much and it does no damage. But the softening of laugh lines is noticable even after one treatment. I leave it on for anywhere from 30 minutes to all night (sleep on a towel if you try that!)
What I'm thinking would be a fabulous two step facial would be to leave good, organic, whole fat yogurt on for a while, then follow it with the raw honey mask...or vice versa. I think either way would be beneficial. And as it happens, honey is also a wonderful conditioning treatment for hair, but it can somewhat lighten your color when done repeatedly. Not too much, but I noticed it.
So there you have it...my latest fun discovery from playing with nature's medicine cabinet! Yogurt as a beauty product, inside and out. No lotion or hair product has ever given me this kind of silkiness. ;)
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Posted by marathongal on 2009-01-27 12:45:37 | Rating: | Views: 75
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